


Admirer

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Fake Marriage, Rare Pair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 03:24:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5114189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caitlin helps Joe out of an awkward situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Admirer

**Author's Note:**

> For SpookyFlashWeek Day 1 - fake married/fake dating au.

Walking into Jitters, Caitlin is instantly curious at the sight of Cisco and Barry, heads together, shoulders visibly shaking with mirth. Walking in on the former is a common enough occurrence; the latter not so much and she feels a smile coming to her own lips as she joins them at the table. "What's so funny?" 

Cisco snickers, jerks his chin in the direction of another of the tall tables across the room. "Check it out," he says. "Joe has himself an admirer."

Caitlin blinks in surprise, though she instantly feels guilty about it. After all. Joe's a good looking man, a decent man, and goodness knows, they all deserve a little happiness. Still, that doesn't explain the grin that's on Cisco's face, and Barry hasn't laughed this much in all the time she's known him. "Why are we laughing?" she asks, though she thinks she has her answer when she actually looks over at Joe and his admirer, who turns out to be a tall, slender yet voluptuous woman with long blonde hair and a dress that clings to every curve. She's leaning over the table, practically draping herself across it really, and Joe looks like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. He glances over at Cisco and Barry, his face a fixed grin and Caitlin recognises a 'get me out of this' face when she sees it. 

Barry and Cisco, though, either don't recognise it or don't care because they don't move. "I have never seen him so uncomfortable," Barry tells her and she looks from him to Cisco, not sure what's surprising her more, Joe's discomfort or their obvious entertainment. 

"Who is she?"

"That is Sherry." Cisco makes the name sound more salacious than it has any right to sound. "We met her when Joe had me..." His voice falters and he looks at Barry, suddenly unsure. 

"She lives in my old house." Barry picks up the tale. "They met her last year when Joe started investigating..."

Barry's voice trails off and a chill runs down Caitlin's spine. She doesn't need to hear the rest of the explanation, knows all too well what it was and how it ended. "She took quite the shine to Joe," Cisco adds, filling the suddenly awkward silence. "As you can see." 

Caitlin looks over at Joe again, sees him swallow hard, move back a little as Sherry reaches over and trails her finger up his arm. His obvious discomfort makes her uncomfortable and she shifts on her feet. "Aren't you going to do something about it?" she asks and Cisco and Barry look at her like she's speaking a foreign language. 

"What do you suggest?" Barry asks, all wide eyes and innocent face and Caitlin's moving before she has time to think about what she's doing, before she has time to talk herself out of it. 

"I'm so sorry I'm late," she says to Joe when she walks up beside him, noting how Sherry jumps when she comes up behind her. She should feel guilty about that, she knows, but she doesn't. Joe blinks in surprise, eyes wide at the tone she's using and the way she's looking at him and they only get wider when she comes around to stand beside him, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "I swear, some people just love the sound of their own voices..." She stops, pauses for effect before she narrows her eyes and gives him the kind of look she used to give Ronnie when he said something she disagreed with. "Don't say it." 

"Wouldn't dream of it," she hears Joe say, sounding not a little bewildered, but she's already turning her attention to Sherry. 

"Hi, I'm Caitlin." She holds out her hand, fixes the other woman with her friendliest smile, but she makes sure it doesn't reach her eyes, makes sure that her handshake is as firm as she knows how to make it. This isn't the first time she's had to put on this act - Ronnie had been quite popular at STAR Labs, not to mention everywhere else, and Caitlin had had to graciously shoo away more admirers than she cared to remember. From the uncertain tilt of Sherry's head, the purse of her lips, she hasn't lost her touch. 

"Caitlin, this is Sherry." Joe slides to his feet, offers her his chair and she bestows upon him one of her most admiring smiles. He stumbles over his feet a little as he pulls up another chair from the next table over and Caitlin has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her smile back. What she knows to be complete confusion actually looks like a guy who's feeling guilty about getting caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. "There was a case last year..." 

"Joe needed to investigate my house," Sherry says, straightening her back, eyes flinty as she stares  at Caitlin. "He spent quite some time there." Evidently she's not into giving up without a fight, shifting her gaze to Joe as she plays with a lock of her long blonde hair. 

Caitlin, meanwhile, just nods, her face the very picture of innocence. "That's how we met too," she says, shifting in her seat so that she's as close to Joe as she can get. He still looks slightly stunned and she wishes he'd get with the program a little bit; there's only so much she can do on her own. "Well, sort of. He needed an expert on blood forensics and ended up with my name..." She trills a tiny laugh, ducks her head as if she's embarrassed. "The rest is history." She places her left hand on top of Joe's arm, the movement drawing Sherry's eyes to the rings that she's never taken off and though she tries to cover up her reaction, Caitlin doesn't miss it. 

Of course, being a police detective, neither does Joe and when his body shifts ever so slightly towards hers, Caitlin knows her wish of moments earlier has come true. "It's like they say," he says, one shoulder rising and falling in a shrug, a crooked smile gracing his lips, "there's a silver lining to every cloud." It's the kind of line that should make Caitlin roll her eyes but somehow Joe manages to sound completely sincere when he delivers it. He follows it up with, "You want your usual, or..." He lets his voice trail off, cleverly covering up the fact that he doesn't know her usual order of coffee while at the same time playing the dutiful husband and Caitlin's smile is appreciative, which works for her because the man actually can think on his feet, and for Sherry, who is hopefully thinking that this is a regular occurrence. 

"Black," she says emphatically. "With lots of sugar." Joe flags down a passing barista to place the order and when he's done, Caitlin leans towards him and says, "I wasn't kidding about that meeting... I need something to perk me up." 

"Caitlin's doing medical research at the university," Joe says and it's Caitlin's turn to look surprised. Not because he's taking the initiative, but because as he does so, he slides an arm around her shoulders, squeezes once, just briefly. Combined with the look on his face, he seems every inch the proud husband. "I think I understand about one word in twenty of what she tells me..."

 She tuts, shakes her head, just like she would if she was his real wife and counters with, "Which is still more than some of the people in that meeting today..."

"They're lucky to have you," he says, his eyes meeting hers, smiling and warm and brown and she takes back every bad thought she had about his acting skills when a shiver runs down her spine. 

The moment is broken when the barista arrives back and places Caitlin's coffee in front of her. Joe takes his hand from her shoulders, slides the jar of sugar packets across the table. "Help yourself," he says. Then, to Sherry, "Three years later, I still can't get it right." 

Sherry's smile is tight. "You never mentioned a wife."

Joe blinks, like he's not sure of what to say. Which,Caitlin thinks, probably fits Actual Joe and Fake Husband Joe to a tee. "It never came up," he finally says, his hand closing over Caitlin's, and Sherry's lips press into a thin line. 

"Well, I should be going," she says and they barely get a chance to say anything else before she disappears in a cloud of perfume and indignation. 

Joe's sigh of relief is almost comical as he sags back in his seat. Caitlin hides her smile in her coffee as she takes a sip. Her eyes flutter shut for a moment as it slips down her throat - turns out she hadn't actually been lying about how much she'd needed it. When she opens her eyes again, Joe is smiling at her and she knows it's silly, not to mention possibly - probably - inappropriate, but her heart actually feels like it skips a beat. "I owe you one," he says. "What made you come over here?"

Caitlin smiles impishly as she lowers her cup to the table. "College party flashback," she says and when she looks confused, she continues, "the 'please get me out of here' look? I've seen that look." A couple of particularly heinous encounters dance through her memory and she shudders. "I have worn that look." When she looks at him again, his eyes are dark, and if she didn't know better, she'd say they were angry. "Nothing serious," she says quickly and just like that, they are calm again. "But I'm happy to help."

"I'm glad you were here." She's suddenly very aware that his hand is still holding hers, even though Sherry is no longer sitting across from them, even though Cisco and Barry are no doubt watching every move they make. She'd look over to check but she can't seem to make herself break Joe's gaze. She feels her cheeks start to flush as Joe's hand tightens on hers and then he blinks and realisation crosses his face, like he's remembered who they really are, not to mention where they are. His hand leaves hers and she raises her cup to her lips again as her stomach drops. "Thank you," he says as he stands, hand reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet, throwing some money on the table before making for the exit. 

She watches him go, studies him more than she probably should. "You're welcome," she says, more to herself than to him but when he gets to the door, turns back to her and smiles, she wonders if he heard her after all. 


End file.
